Italian Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at the Age of 92
The tennis champion is one of only three Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
The player made history by becoming the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy the following year.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the country's finest player prior to the advent of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the national federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
